


Book 1, Earth (Avatar: TLoA)

by ArletteFernsby



Series: Avatar:The Legend of Aika [1]
Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-05
Updated: 2020-08-05
Packaged: 2021-03-06 05:01:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,304
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25727845
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ArletteFernsby/pseuds/ArletteFernsby
Summary: About the Pai Sho game in here, I'm honestly not too sure of how the game works, so some of the tiles here are made up, sorry about that...
Series: Avatar:The Legend of Aika [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1866211





	Book 1, Earth (Avatar: TLoA)

Aika felt the cold wind behind her, pushing her to the right. She felt her foot slip slightly across the smooth ice, and struggled to prevent herself from falling right onto the ground. Her grandmother stood opposite her, donning a strong and steady stance, ready to take her on whenever she was ready. Aika closed her eyes and breathed in the cold, snow-fresh air, positioning herself in the most basic waterbending stance. In her head, she envisioned the next move she’d make, and how her grandmother would react, almost as if she were in a game of Pai Sho, where the tiles were waterbending moves, each more complex than the last. With a swift upward sweep of her hands, Aika started the waterbending match. 

A large wave of water ran towards Aika’s grandmother, missing her narrowly as she deflected the attack with an ice wall. Aika kept throwing waves upon waves of water towards her grandmother, each wave larger than the next. As her grandmother was busy deflecting her attacks, Aika unfroze the ice beneath her feet and directed the water towards her grandmother. Riding on the wave she had created, Aika got behind her grandmother, and sent another attack her way from behind, hoping to freeze her grandmother. Suddenly, she felt herself freeze up, and looked down-- her feet were frozen to the ground, and her grandmother was already beside her, threatening to cut her throat with an icicle. 

“I win.” her grandmother chuckled, throwing the sharp ice aside, and crushing it with her foot. Aika unfroze her feet that were rooted in the ground, then refreezing the ice so she wouldn’t slip on it later. 

“You win, Gran-Gran.” Aika reaffirmed, dusting off her shoulders. “Let’s start again.” 

Her grandmother drew another stroke on the ice, symbolising their matches this morning. Since dawn, they had been at it, and out of the 16 matches they had so far, Aika had only won 3. Not surprising though, her grandmother wasn’t named the Ice Queen of the North and South for nothing. Moreover, her grandmother was the Head of the United Waterbender’s society, the strongest and most experienced waterbender in the group. It was a miracle she had been able to win three this morning by this time--- they normally had around 20 matches, of which she would win from zero to 5 of them. To be fair, she almost always won none. 

Aika drew second position this time, waiting for her grandmother to move first. Unexpectedly, her grandmother created a large ice slope and slid right up into the air-- a very risky move, Aika thought. Her grandmother wasn’t that young anymore. 

Aika dove around the water her grandmother sent her way, and created a bubble around herself, almost deflecting all of the attacks that weren’t sharp enough to puncture her defence. When they did, she dodged them. Her grandmother continued on the offense, until Aika found an opening and dove for it. Finally, she ended up right above her grandmother, with spears made of ice hovering just next to her grandmother’s neck. She raised both her arms in defeat. 

“Okay, okay. This time I lose.” Grandmother’s hands fell back down as Aika directed the spear elsewhere, before marking another stroke on the ice for her victory. 

Suddenly, a shout rang out from near the city, “Incoming Attack! Attack! I repeat, Attack!”  
The sound of horns and bells reverberated through space, before Aika and her grandmother quickly ran back towards the center of the city. 

“Aika, hurry up!” her grandmother yelled, waterbending the ice below them so they could skate across much quicker. Aika took her grandmother’s hand and together they dashed back to the city center.

Everyone in the city was in panic mode, running to and fro. Aika and her grandmother had to weave in and out through a crowd of people before arriving at their home. At times like these, the city had to always be on alert, and watchmen were stationed all throughout the border.

As soon as she entered the house, Aika’s grandmother closed the door behind them. Safety procedure during a raid-- always close the door, and wait indoors until further instructions. Aika sighed and waited for around ten minutes, before another announcement was made. 

‘That was a false alarm! I repeat! That was a false alarm!” 

Of course, it was a false alarm, Aika thought, it always was. Her grandmother merely sighed and took her back to their practice ground. 

After a few more rounds of sparring, Aika’s grandmother took a tiny break. Aika closed her eyes and let her imagination expand. Her hands moved in a single, fluid motion, sharp and dull at the same time. Aika opened her eyes again, and found herself staring right into the eyes of an ice statue of herself. It was a perfect mirror image, in fact. 

“Your skills have improved drastically in the last three years, Aika.” her grandmother complimented. 

“Great. I hope it’s good enough for the test, because I can’t wait to leave this place.” Aika said. It was true, she couldn’t wait to go.  
“Good, because the council’s coming again this afternoon.” her grandmother said. 

Aika rolled her eyes and made a show of crushing her ice sculpture. “Right, once a year, and it’s today?” 

“Twice a year now, dear. Don’t forget, wear your best clothes.” Aika’s grandmother said. Then they went back to training. 

Half an hour later, Aika changed into her best clothes and made her way to the council with her grandmother. “Now, remember. Sit straight and be polite. Do your best, don’t slack and show them what you’ve got. Need I remind you if you pass you’ll be allowed to leave this place and join your family.” 

Aika entered the room, ready for the big test. The room was filled with decorative scrolls and words engraved on the walls. It was the council room, where the council of elders met everyday to discuss important matters. Aika had been in this room a lot of times before, but it managed to surprise her everytime she went in. For some reason, it always felt especially cold inside. 

“Aika, it’s time for your test. If you pass, your waterbending training will officially be over, and you’ll be one of the strongest waterbenders from the southern water tribe. As you know, as soon as your training’s over, you’re allowed to leave the southern water tribe to other countries and whatnot” the head of the southern water tribe said. His son stood by his side, dutifully taking notes. The head also happened to be Aika’s uncle, her mother’s eldest brother. 

“You’ll be sparring with five waterbending masters. There are two ways to pass-- either you defeat all five masters, or you have them all acknowledge you as a strong waterbender.”  
Her uncle explained. He clapped twice, and three children ran into the room-- Aika recognised them as her cousins. 

“Children? Please take Aika to the grounds, where the five masters are waiting for her.” he ordered. Aika didn’t need anyone to take her there-- she knew it very well. 

They arrived at an arena, the biggest one in the city. Usually these arenas were used for teaching, grounds for waterbender masters to teach their students. Today, this one was emptied out for her test. 

“First up, we have Master Iku. Match starts in three… two… one…” the referee counted down as soon as Aika bowed and greeted all five masters. 

As the match began, Aika started to recall Master Iku’s fighting style. He fought on the defence frequently, so his defence was stronger than most. She could fight offensively, but it’d take up so much of her stamina. 

Aika decided to let Master Iku make the first move. He immediately gathered water towards himself, forming an indestructible shield. Instantly, her grandmother’s words came to mind, ‘Take your opponent’s strength and turn it against them.’ 

Aika easily reached forward and clenched her fist quickly, freezing up the water Master Iku had wrapped around himself-- a technique she had perfected after seeing her grandmother use it on an innocent penguin-otter one afternoon. 

Flashback

“Mmph! Freeze, stupid ice!” Aika yelled, punching through the water she hadn’t managed to fully freeze. 

“Now, now, Aika.” her grandmother said, walking to her side. A penguin-otter wadled close to them, and her grandmother did the same action as Aika had tried to do. The penguin-otter completely froze, unable to move. Aika’s eyes widened. 

“Th-that’s incredible!” Seven-year old Aika said, only able to unfreeze part of the penguin-otter. 

“It takes experience, darling. Don’t expect to be able to do that so quickly.” her grandmother said, unfreezing the ice around the poor fauna.  
“If you perfect this technique, you’ll be able to freeze any opponent” her grandmother had said, “after all, water is in the air all around us. If you are able to gather all the water onto that person, and freeze it until it’s so cold it freezes the person’s skin off, you’ll win no matter what.” 

“What? Gran-Gran! Why would I want to kill someone?” Aika asked, horrified. 

“I was just joking, darling. Don’t worry.” her grandmother said, smiling. Aika noticed that her eyes were filled with worry, unlike the rest of her face. 

“I--I’ll make sure I master this move!” Aika promised her grandmother, practicing over and over again. 

It was only two years later, just when she turned 9, when she finally mastered the move and honed it down to perfection. It took a lot of focus, but eventually she was able to effortlessly be able to freeze things even from far away, even if they were completely dry. 

It had taken her years to perfect this move, and she was not going to lose to anyone today. She didn’t feel like it. 

Master Iku was frozen in the ice, completely. Last year, she had beaten Master Iku as well, after a long fight. This year, she had improved. 

“Master Iku, can you move?” the referee asked. No sound came out. He was frozen after all. 

“No, then? Aika wins this match. Next up, Master Ruki.” he called. 

An old man stepped forward, his expression stern and shrewd. Master Ruki was a very strong waterbender, Aika knew; he taught very few students, only the elite chosen few. Aika looked into his eyes as the match began. He was sure to make a--- oh wait, she was wrong. That was the thing about Master Ruki-- he made you think he was going to attack you, when he was actually just defending himself. The intimidation he lorded over everyone else-- that was what made him dangerous and strong. 

Aika took an offensive stance, causing Ruki to snort. 

“What’s so funny?” Aika asked, her eyes narrowing. 

“An offensive? You know me better than that, sweetheart.” Master Ruki intoned, a smirk drawn all over his face. 

“Well, let’s see how this goes.” Aika said, her eyes trained on Master Ruki’s every movement. In a flash, his hand moved to the right, and Aika waited for his next move. 

It was a bad idea to wait, Aika knew. She was about to jump up into the air, thinking the attack would come from below, but stopped herself. Her demise came last year right after she assumed she knew was coming. 

As she predicted, the movement was a feint to throw her off the real one-- a large piece of ice flying inches above her head. She didn’t even dodge, and it missed her entirely. Master Ruki clicked his tongue irritatedly, trying to figure out his next move. Aika had to put an end to this fast-- she didn’t want to waste too much stamina, she still had three more opponents after this. Quickly, Aika summoned a large ice tower beneath her, and directed it towards Master Ruki, before melting the ice and surfing on it, drowning out anything or anyone beneath her. Master Ruki skillfully dodged the wave, but Aika rode it behind him, transforming it into ice, and struck him with a few icicles, which he couldn’t dodge. The icicles hovered an inch away from his neck. They were sharp enough to kill him, that was for sure. Master Ruki looked shocked, but put his hands up in defeat. 

“This match goes to Avatar Aika, your next opponent is Master Kai.” 

Aika watched as Master Kai stepped forward. He was a plump, stout old man with a good and cheerful attitude. Master Kai was the one who originally taught her waterbending, until he had nothing left to teach. This was someone she beat the previous year, so there was no doubt she’d win. 

Still, to be on the careful side, Aika made sure to get really close-- close combat was his weakness. As soon as she managed to get close, she won easily. 

“Aika wins the third match. Next up is Master Mika” the referee called. Master Mika was the only woman among all the old waterbenders-- she had worked her way up at a young age. “Mika the prodigy” was a common phrase at this point. 

“Aika, pleasure to spar with you again.” Master Mika intoned. 

“It’s my honour, Master Mika.” Aika said, bowing. The match started, and right from the start, Aika knew she could win. 

Master Mika was very careful, and played on the defence a lot. Still, she wasn’t completely safe. Aika barely managed to dodge all the obstacles she flung towards her-- ice and water both. 

“You’re quicker and more agile now, I see.” Master Mika said, standing absolutely still. Aika wrapped water around her own ankles so she would get knocked down, and the two started passing a larger and larger wave around. 

After a few minutes, the wave got so large Master Mika couldn’t handle it anymore, and she threw it to the side. Seeing the opportunity, Aika jumped onto the wave and froze it, making her way much closer to Master Mika. As soon as she did, Master Mika played on the defensive, blocking all her blows, until Aika wrapped a large wave around her, pushing her up high and trapping her in ice. 

Defeated, Master Mika put her hands up and the final waterbending master rose up to the challenge.

It was Master Pua, the leader of all five waterbending masters, second only to her grandmother in terms of strength.  
“Aika, you ready? I know I sure am!” Master Pua called cheerfully. Aika frowned. She had never, ever been able to get near beating Master Pua. Not even close. So of course, Master Pua was cheerful as ever. Then again, she had never beat her grandmother until half a year ago, so maybe Master Pua was not going to be too hard. 

She was wrong. Master Pua was very skilled. Within a second of the match, he had trapped her in a block of ice. Aika managed to unfreeze herself without problem, but Master Pua hit her with a few waves of water, just enough to make her lose balance. 

Aika quickly recovered, making a defensive stance. She needed a chance to turn the tides, and soon, before she was hit with another attack. Sure enough, she narrowly missed getting hit by an ice block, flying straight towards her. 

Master Pua’s face turned dark. Aika wasn’t the same girl he had fought a year back, and it was time to get serious. 

“Playtime’s over. Let’s get serious, shall we?” Master Pua asked, pulling away from his position. He jumped up high in the air and started waterbending rapidly, surrounding Aika. Aika quickly froze the surrounding water, and used a water whip to break free of her prison. Aika darted left and right, flicking her wrists both ways and knelt down, creating a large wave that enveloped Master Pua. Freezing it, she stepped back to watch. Master Pua easily broke free, and the two continued to fight. 

With a sweep of his hand, Master Pua melted the ice under Aika’s feet, making her lose her footing. Aika quickly re-froze it, but lost precious time to attack, and had to continuously dodge multiple attacks at a time. Master Pua soon rode a wave towards her, but Aika took control of it from under him, and turned the wave away, making him lose his balance. 

Master Pua sputtered and coughed as he fell to the ground, right before Aika skillfully sent icicles flying down on him from the sky, pinning his hands and feet to the ground. 

The other four masters applauded, some surprised that she was able to beat Master Pua. 

“All five matches have gone to Avatar Aika. She has passed this exam.” the referee announced, as the head of the tribe stood up and applauded. He got down to the arena and dismissed the five masters. 

“Avatar Aika, you have passed this exam at age 10, which is extraordinary. Most adults can barely beat any of the masters, let alone all five of them. Congratulations on your victory, Avatar. You have now mastered waterbending, and you’re free to leave this country as you wish from now on.” the head of the council said.

“So that’s it?” Aika asked, “I’m free to go?” 

“Yes, you have finished your waterbending training.” he stated plainly, before Aika’s grandmother rushed downstairs to congratulate her. 

“Aika! Darling, you’ve done it! Congratulations! Now you’ve really mastered waterbending.” Her grandmother said, taking her back home. Aika looked around her… was she really going to leave this place?

“Do I have to leave?” Aika asked quietly. 

Her grandmother turned around, a smile on her face. “What do you mean? Haven’t you always wanted to leave this tribe? I can still remember the day Tiaki and your family left, and you were crying so much back then. Don’t you want to join them?” she asked. 

“I do, I really do,” Aika replied, “but I’m not sure anymore. I haven’t seen them in over 2 whole years, and as the avatar, I’ve come to realise my duty lies in something else. Don’t I have to master the four elements? I don’t have time to stay anymore, do I?” 

Her grandmother took a deep breath. She didn’t think Aika would think of that. “I-- I think you should ask yourself what you want. The avatar does have a duty to restore and keep peace in the world, but the world’s not at war right now, you know. You have time to do whatever you want, as far as I can tell. But you always wanted to leave the tribe, didn’t you? All these years, the only reason you worked so hard was to visit your family and leave the southern water tribe.” 

Aika paused. That was true, her only motivation for the past two or three years was all based upon the fact that she could leave the tribe if she finished her waterbending training. That’s why she worked so hard. 

“I did. I did think my only reason was to return home. But now that I’ve mastered waterbending, I realise maybe it’s more than that. Maybe I’m not meant to just go home and stay there for the rest of my life. Gran-Gran, what should I do?” Aika asked. 

Her grandmother opened the door to her home. “It’s late now, why don’t you spend some time with Aurora for now? Maybe she’ll offer you some wisdom.” 

Aika shrugged and did as her grandmother said, stepping back outside to meet her friend. As always, Aurora was waiting for her as usual. 

“Hi, Aurora.” Aika said, patting her snow dragon on the head lightly. Aurora purred softly in response, nuzzling her head against Aika’s hand. 

“Are you ready for a ride? I kinda need to clear my mind of some… feelings,” Aika murmured, extending her hand. Aurora wrapped her whisker around her wrists, and Aika leapt onto her snow dragon, who ascended into the sky. 

As they flew around, Aika heard Aurora ask about her day through her whiskers. “I’m fine. I passed the ‘exit exam’, you know, the one where I get to leave if I pass? Well, I don’t know what to do next. Gran-gran says I’ve got nothing else to learn around here, so I can do what I want, maybe even go back to Ezra and the others.” Aika rambled on. 

“You remember Ezra? My twin brother? Zane? Mom and Dad?” Aurora nodded, “Well, yeah. I can go back to them, but I can also choose to learn earthbending. The thing is, whatever I do, I’ll have to do alone. Gran-Gran’s too old to be travelling anyway, and… you know, I’m still really confused. I don’t know what to do next, where to go.” Aika vented. 

Aurora said nothing, so they sat in silence for the rest of the ride until they reached the ground, right outside Aika’s house. 

“It’s really cold tonight, so why don’t you get in here for tonight?” Aika asked, pulling Aurora into her home. Aurora gladly went in, shaking cold. 

Aika’s grandmother took out a tray of tea and poured Aika some, before setting down the teapot. “So Aika, have you calmed down a bit?” she asked. 

Aika nodded, petting Aurora gently as she sipped her jasmine tea. “Gran-Gran? You up for a game of Pai Sho?” 

Her grandmother looked away and sighed heavily, “You always beat me and everyone else at Pai Sho, Aika. You’re the Pai Sho Champion of the south, that’s what they call you. Every time we play, you win!” 

Aika playfully took out the Pai Sho set and placed it in the center of the table. She placed each piece in the right position, before her grandmother made the first move. 

“I see you favour the white lotus gambit as always, Gran-Gran,” Aika remarked, moving the jasmine tile to the right. 

“Forgive me, Aika, but don’t you think the white lotus gambit is the best way to start?” her grandmother said, moving the white jade tile. Aika shrugged and started forming a plan in her mind-- using the rock, wheel, knotweed and boat tiles. She waited until her grandmother’s precious orchid tile was in place, and captured it as her own. 

“Oh, there goes my most precious piece.” her grandmother moaned, moving the white lotus forward. 

“Perhaps that’s what you think. But in all honesty, this game was about your white lotus from the very beginning.” Aika commented, capturing the white lotus tile as her own. This was her plan from the very beginning anyway. Her grandmother never moved the other tiles too much, so planning to capture the orchid and white lotus wasn’t so hard for her. 

Her grandmother smacked herself on the forehead and wove her other tiles through Aika’s strong offense. Aika grinned and surrounded all the tiles from the outside, effectively winning the game. 

“That was painful to watch, mother,” a voice said. They turned to see the head of the tribe, sitting right near the door. 

“Since when did you come in, Mr-Too-Important-To-Even-Visit-His-Mother-Once-In-A-While?” Aika’s grandmother rolled her eyes. 

Her uncle shrugged. “It’s not like I never visit you, mom. I just had to take care of some matters today. Aika, dear, congratulations on your victory. Look, mom. I do visit, and it’s not like I ran out of the country like Tiaki! Please don’t be mad.” 

Aika’s grandmother motioned for him to sit right beside her, and poured him some tea. 

“Darling Aika, will you go upstairs and get to bed? Bring Aurora with you, please.” she said, setting the teapot back down. 

“No!” Aika complained, “Can’t I just play one game with Uncle? He’s never here anyway, just one game, please?” 

“Pai Sho? I’m up for it if you are. You do realise I’m one of the greatest Pai Sho masters history has ever seen, don’t you?” he laughed. 

“Really? That’s the first time I’ve heard of it!” Aika’s grandmother said, reheating the tea.

“Ah, well! Aika’s always beat me, but today will be the first time I win!” he promised, setting the tiles back to their original places. 

Aika took up the challenge of going first. Unlike her grandmother, her uncle favoured the White Jade Defense opening, which made it slightly harder to form an attack against. Taking into account each move and each prediction she could make from her uncle, Aika won within two minutes, after forming a harmonic ring around the table.  
“I win again.” Aika announced, grinning from ear to ear.  
Her uncle sighed and picked up the pieces, tidying up the board. Aika helped, and put the board back. 

“Goodnight Gran-Gran, Uncle.” Aika said, heading upstairs with Aurora. As soon as they went up, Aika fell asleep in Aurora’s lap, snoring away quietly. 

The next morning, Aika was shaken awake. She looked up to see Aurora, awake and under her, a little sleepy still.

“I get it, I get it. Come on, Aurora. Let’s go.” Aika took Aurora by the whisker gently and guided her downstairs, where her grandmother was already waiting. 

“So, Aika, today we’re not going to train, because obviously. Anyhow, we have much to discuss. Sit.” 

Aika sighed and sat down sullenly. Her grandmother was not one to skip over anything when it came to discussions. 

“So right now, you have a few options.” her grandmother said, pouring her some ginseng tea. Aika took a sip before putting it down quickly-- it was far too hot, so Aika froze some ice and separated it into cubes before dropping it into her tea. 

“I know that. I always thought I’d head straight back with Ezra and the others, but now that I’ve mastered waterbending, I’m not too sure. It’s never too late to go back to the fire nation after I master earthbending, right?” Aika said quietly. 

“If you’re not sure, you can just stay here with the tribe, you know.” her grandmother comforted. 

Aika thought for a while. “Well, if I stay, I accomplish nothing. I really want to go back to Mom and Dad, but I’ve been fine without them for the last three years. I think… what I really want to do… is go to the earth Kingdom.” Aika said quietly. 

“Why?” 

Aika didn’t know what to say. 

“Aika, what do you want from your life?” her grandmother asked, “what do you want most? Family? Love? Freedom?” 

Aika looked down. What did she want? 

“I wanted to finish training. I wanted to go back home. I wanted Zane and Ezra, Mom and Dad. I want...friends.” Aika murmured. 

“I want friends, that’s right. I want people I can talk to outside of my family.” Aika restated loudly. 

“Friends, huh? Friendship is underrated around here. The last friend you had was… I can’t remember.” her grandmother said. 

“You know I wasn’t allowed to have friends. I’ve never even had a best friend, or a close one.” Aika said. “How do I even make friends?” 

“You know why though, Aika. You had to complete your training. You are the avatar, and because of your strict training, you’ve mastered waterbending at the young age of 10. That’s why you had to give up on friends, family and everything else. It’s a small sacrifice for your duty, Aika.” 

Aika looked up with tears in her eyes. “Maybe I don’t want to sacrifice any more of my time towards being the avatar, maybe I don’t want to lose any more than I’ve had. Maybe I don’t want to be the avatar at all!” she shouted angrily. 

Her grandmother took a step back and shushed her gently. “Quiet, darling. Most people aren’t awake yet. I understand, you want more freedom, you don’t want to be the avatar,” 

Aika shook her head, violently waving her arms around. “No! I don’t want to.. I mean, you can’t possibly understand. I am the avatar! I know! But I don’t want to be!” She yelled. Her grandmother slowly walked closer, and took her hand. Aika could feel the wrinkles on her grandmother’s palm, slowly stroking her hand over and over again to calm her down. It was calming for Aika, and she managed to slowly get her breathing under control again. 

“You know, Aika. There is one way to get what you want, both friends and fulfilling the duty of the avatar. You don’t have to overthink this, it’s not that hard. Just go to the earth Kingdom and make some friends, learn a thing or two on the way.” her grandmother said calmly, “Whatever you do, you’ll be fine, darling.” 

“So what? I just travel to the earth kingdom? For what reason?” Aika asked. 

“To make friends and maybe, just maybe learn some earthbending.” her grandmother replied, “does that sound good to you?” 

“I guess, it does.” Aika said. She started to smile-- not a real one, just a decent enough one to convince her grandmother, which worked. 

“That’s decided then. You’re going to travel around the world, starting from the earth kingdom. Make some friends, have some fun, and save the world one day?” her grandmother said, smiling. 

“The world’s fine, Gran-Gran. No need for any weird hybrid, freak, hero avatar to save the day. But sure, I guess at this point I’ve got nothing better to do.” Aika murmured, stroking her blue streak of hair. 

“You’re not a freak, Aika.” her grandmother said, walking to the other side of the room. She picked up something from the table of ice. It was a letter, freshly delivered to their doorstep this morning.  
She walked over to Aika, and showed her the parchment. It was dry, and reddish-brown in colour, the kind of paper used in the fire nation. Aika brushed her hands across the paper, smoothing out the creases.  
Aika silently read the letter, addressed to her, from her mother in the fire nation. It read:  
Dear Aika,  
How are you doing? Are you well? We have missed you so much.  
We have been doing very well over here at the fire nation. Your father has been promoted to the position of the Fire Lord’s second in command, though he was always very close to the Fire Lord, his brother.  
Don’t worry about us and please finish your waterbending training soon, to join us at the fire nation.  
Love,  
Tiaki  
It was a very short letter, as always. Her mother used to write once a week, but that soon became a letter every month, and now it was once every three months, or one letter per season. Aika always had missed her family, but she often wondered whether they even remembered her. She always wrote back immediately after receiving a letter, but her mother never replied until a few months later.  
“It’s a letter from your mother, dear. Why don’t you write back?” her grandmother suggested, “maybe you can tell her about finishing your training and yours plans to travel the world now?” 

Aika rubbed her chin thoughtfully. “It is pretty important, isn’t it? But no, I don’t plan on telling her, and I’m begging you, Gran-Gran, not to tell anyone else I’m leaving for the earth kingdom and travelling around the world.” 

Her grandmother rolled her eyes and asked, “What if someone from the tribe asks me? What do I say, huh?” 

Aika put the letter aside. “You can tell them the truth, honestly. But not my family. They don’t need to know about this. If they did, god forbid, they wouldn’t let me. You know that.” 

Aika’s grandmother sat down. “So, in short. You want me to lie to my only daughter, Tiaki and your entire family, so you can go make friends in the earth kingdom?” 

Aika nodded, “Yes.” 

“If that’s what you want, I’m good with it then!” her grandmother exclaimed, smiling. 

“Really?” Aika couldn’t believe it. 

“Yes, darling. Though if you don’t want them to find out, hurry up and write back to your mother.” she said, handing her a new piece of parchment. This one was white, almost so white it was blue in colour. The parchment used by the southern water tribe, and sometimes the northern tribe too. 

Aika picked up a pen and started to write on it, as quickly as she could. 

Dear Mom,  
I am doing well. Thanks for your letter, and please write back soon.  
Love, Aika. 

It was definitely much shorter than her other letters, which usually consisted of over 10 pages. 

Her grandmother smiled and folded the letter together, patting Aika on the head. 

“This one is slightly shorter than most, but I’m sure Tiaki doesn’t mind. When do you want to leave here then?” her grandmother asked. 

Aika turned to Aurora, who had just come downstairs. She looked well-rested, perfect for a long night of flying. “Tonight. I’ll get all my supplies and map out my route for now, Gran-Gran.” 

Her grandmother didn’t even blink when she told her she was leaving that very night. Instead, she took out a Pai Sho set from a shelf-- one that Aika had never been permitted to even touch, ever. She handed it to Aika. 

“This Pai Sho set is very special, Aika. The tiles are made of mother of pearl, and the board is carved from the finest rosewood, made by a master of Pai Sho. Your mother played on this set, as did I. I think it’s time I give this to you. It’s small, and can fit in your bags.” she said. 

Aika shook her head. “No, Gran-Gran. This set is too precious for me to hold. All I need is this,” Aika held up two plain Pai Sho Tiles-- the white lotus and the orchid. 

“These two. The special flowers, I see.” her grandmother said. Aika held up a third tile-- a golden set of scales. 

“This one is important to victory, too, Gran-gran.” she said, flipping the tiles around in her hand, before dropping them into a small gray pouch. 

“Three lucky tiles, hm? I used to have something like that too.” her grandmother mused, putting back the pai sho set, “but if you say so, I’ll keep this.” 

“You used to travel with Avatar Zayda, right? How was that?” Aika asked, tying the gray pouch to her belt. 

“Well…” her grandmother began, squinting, “It was pretty fun. To be fair, Zayda and I never got along especially well, maybe because of the fire and waterbending. I trained with her on our journey, and we travelled with a couple other guys. There were a lot of unexpected things happening on our journey, but we all had a great time. Come to think of it, it was pretty dangerous. We could have easily lost our lives then, but I’m glad we didn’t.” her grandmother laughed. Aika didn’t think that was a laughing matter, but her grandmother kept going. 

“We were being chased back then, by.. I can’t remember who anymore. Anyway, we had some really really close calls, but it was so great. We made such great friends, and some of us are still close.” 

“But.. was avatar Zayda the first one to leave?” Aika asked nervously. 

“Well, yes. But when her new life, your past life, was born, we all went to visit him. Oh, yes. Baby WangPo was so adorable back then. Always was. A few years before WangPo’s passing, one of us left too. Then another one. Now it’s just me and two other friends. But we’ll never forget that amazing journey so many years ago.” 

Aika nodded, and set off for the market. When she got there, it was bustling with action. People from the city were all trying to buy food for the day. 

Aika decided to go with some dry foods that lasted much longer than most for her journey. As soon as she had bought enough things she needed, she returned home to her grandmother. 

“You’re back? Good, I wanted to give you this before you leave.” her grandmother said, pulling out a box. 

“It’s not more Pai Sho? Is it?” Aika asked, taking the white lotus out of her gray pouch. 

“No, it’s not. It’s this.” her grandmother took out a beautiful pendant from the box. It had a purple dyed cloth around it--- a very expensive and precious colour. 

“Wh-what’s this?” Aika asked. It looked extremely expensive.  
“It’s a betrothal necklace, not that you’re betrothed, of course. This necklace was given to me by my grandmother, and her grandmother gave it to her, and so on. The story goes that one of our ancestors gave this necklace to another of our ancestors, his wife, when they were betrothed. This necklace brings good luck, and I used to wear it all the time. You should too.” 

Aika carefully took the beautiful necklace and slipped it on, making sure it was facing the right way. “Thank you, Gran-Gran” Aika Said cheerfully. 

“ oh you’re quite welcome,” her grandmother intoned, before turning to her snow dragon, Aurora. 

“Aika, when do you plan on leaving? Tonight?” She asked. 

“Yes, tonight. I can’t wait any longer, Gran-Gran. I want to find a friend! I want to explore the world!” Aika said, jumping up and down excitedly. 

Her grandmother smiled and sat down, drinking some hot tea. Aika went upstairs and packed up her belongings-- it was a little past noon, lunchtime. 

After lunch, Aika continued to pack. She had all the time in the world, but she couldn’t wait to leave the south pole. 

Late afternoon, the sun was already setting when Aika got onto Aurora’s back, her bag fully packed, her stomach full and her eyes set on the horizon. She made sure her Pai Sho tiles were still in her pouch, said goodbye to her grandmother, and set off for the north, ready to face whatever it was that awaited her in the earth kingdom.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> About the Pai Sho game in here, I'm honestly not too sure of how the game works, so some of the tiles here are made up, sorry about that...


End file.
